It made sense in the 1930s for the government to subsidize credit unions by letting them off the hook from paying federal income taxes. Back then, they helped at-risk communities survive hard times by expanding access to credit to those who needed it most. Large credit unions have long abandoned that mission, and today are seeking membership growth—by targeting rich people.
To grow and compete against even larger and more aggressive large credit unions, Gulf Coast Federal Credit Union announced that it would be converting from a community charter to a far broader multiple common bond charter.
Wings Financial Credit Union – with nearly $7 billion in assets – planned to buy Neighborhood National Bank of Mora, Minn. The deal was announced in March 2020 for the credit union giant to buy the $200 million bank. But in early 2021 the deal fell apart, much to the surprise of Neighborhood National CEO Doyle Jelsing.
A move by the NCUA to allow large credit unions to issue subordinated debt for regulatory capital purposes from outside for-profit investors—such as corporate debt markets—while retaining their tax exemption, undermines the statutory principle that credit unions should serve consumers of small means, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols wrote in an American Banker op-ed yesterday.
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